Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫) is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the Final Fantasy video game series by Square Enix.
A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton John as one of his biggest influences.
1986
Uematsu joined Square in 1986, where he first met Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.
The two later worked together on many games at the company, most notably in the Final Fantasy series.
Uematsu joined Square in 1986 and composed his first soundtrack, Cruise Chaser Blassty.
Shortly after, he met Hironobu Sakaguchi, who asked him if he wanted to create music for some of his games, to which Uematsu agreed.
For the next year, he created music for a number of games which did not achieve widespread success, such as King's Knight, 3-D WorldRunner, and Rad Racer.
1987
In 1987, Uematsu and Sakaguchi collaborated on what was originally to be Sakaguchi's last contribution for Square, Final Fantasy.
Final Fantasy popularity sparked Uematsu's career in video game music, and he would go on to compose music for over 30 titles, most prominently the subsequent games in the Final Fantasy series.
1989
He scored the first installment in the SaGa series, The Final Fantasy Legend, in 1989.
For the second game in the series, Final Fantasy Legend II he was assisted by Kenji Ito.
1994
In late 1994, Uematsu was asked to finish the soundtrack for Chrono Trigger after Yasunori Mitsuda contracted peptic ulcers.
He also inspired the Ten Plants concept albums, and released a solo album in 1994, titled Phantasmagoria.
1996
In 1996, he co-composed the soundtrack to Front Mission: Gun Hazard, and created the entire score for Dynami Tracer.
He also created music for three of the games in the Hanjuku Hero series.
2000
Uematsu was also the keyboardist in The Black Mages in the 2000s, which played various hard rock versions of his Final Fantasy compositions.
Outside of video games, he has composed the main theme for the 2000 animated film Ah! My Goddess: The Movie and co-composed the 2001 anime Final Fantasy: Unlimited with Shirō Hamaguchi.
2001
Feeling gradually more dissatisfied and uninspired, Uematsu requested the assistance of composers Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano for the score to Final Fantasy X in 2001.
This marked the first time that Uematsu did not compose an entire main-series Final Fantasy soundtrack.
2002
For Final Fantasy XI from 2002, he was joined by Naoshi Mizuta, who composed the majority of the soundtrack, and Kumi Tanioka; Uematsu was responsible for only eleven tracks.
In 2002, fellow Square colleagues Kenichiro Fukui and Tsuyoshi Sekito asked Uematsu to join them in forming a rock band that focused on reinterpreting and expanding on Uematsu's compositions.
He declined their offer at first because he was too busy with work; however, after agreeing to perform with Fukui and Sekito in a live performance as a keyboardist, he decided to join them in making a band.
Another employee at Square, Mr. Matsushita, chose the name The Black Mages for their band.
2003
In 2003, Keiji Kawamori, Arata Hanyuda, and Michio Okamiya also joined the band.
The Black Mages released three studio albums and performed at several concerts.
2004
After nearly two decades with Square, Uematsu left in 2004 to create his own production company and music label, Dog Ear Records.
He has since composed music as a freelancer for other games, including ones developed by Square Enix and Sakaguchi's development studio, Mistwalker.
Many soundtracks and arranged albums of Uematsu's game scores have been released.
Pieces from his video game works have been performed in various Final Fantasy concerts, where he has worked with conductor Arnie Roth and Game Concerts producer Thomas Böcker on several of these performances.
Uematsu left Square Enix in 2004 and formed his own production company, Smile Please.
2006
He later founded the music production company and record label Dog Ear Records in 2006.
2011
He has since performed with the Earthbound Papas, which he formed as the successor to The Black Mages in 2011.
Uematsu has made several listings in the Classic FM Hall of Fame.
Uematsu was born in Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan.
A self-taught musician, he began to play the piano when he was between the ages of eleven and twelve years old, and he did not take any formal piano lessons.
He has an older sister who also played the piano.
After graduating from Kanagawa University with a degree in English, Uematsu played the keyboard in several amateur bands and composed music for television commercials.
When Uematsu was working at a music rental shop in Tokyo, a Square employee asked if he would be interested in creating music for some of the titles they were working on.
Although he agreed, Uematsu at the time considered it a side job, and he did not think it would become a full-time career.
He said it was a way to make some money on the side, while also keeping his part-time job at the music rental shop.
